Armored vehicle protection systems include means for withstanding the impact of shrapnel, bullets, missiles, or shells, and/or for neutralizing the triggering mechanism of weapons, such as Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPG). These protection systems are implemented in vehicles, such as tanks, Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs), aircraft, and ships, however may also be utilized to protect any stationary structures, such as a guard towers deployed around military bases, and army post, etc.
The protection system typically includes plates including material designed to absorb some of the impact, and/or elements configured for modifying the trajectory of the shell and/or neutralizing the triggering mechanism of the weapon. However these plates are often very heavy.
One example of a common weapon used against vehicles is an RPG, which is typically a shoulder-fired, anti-tank weapon system which fires rockets equipped with an explosive warhead.
FIG. 1 is illustrates one example of RPG warhead 10 having a conductive cone 12 encased in an aerodynamic cover 13. An electric trigger 11, which can be for example a piezoelectric fuze, is mounted at the top of aerodynamic c cover 13 and is coupled to the edge of the conductive cone 12. The warhead 10 further includes a body 16 filled with explosive 17 and a conductor 18, electrically coupled to conductive cone 12. Body 16 includes a conical liner 14 which is configured to focus the effect of the explosive's energy. The rocket 10 is propelled using a motor located in the tail section 19 thereof.
When the warhead 10 hits the target, the trigger 11 actuates an electric signal, which is transmitted through conductive cone 12 to conductor 18, which in return sets off the explosives 17. The explosive is then urged through an aperture in the conical liner toward the target.
Slat armor, which is also known as standoff armor, is a type of armor designed to protect against RPG attacks by neutralizing the triggering mechanism thereof. The slat armor includes a rigid grid deployed around the vehicle, which naturalizes the warhead, either by deforming the conical liner, or by short-circuiting the fuzing mechanism of the warhead. The slat armor is in the form of a rigid grid disposed in a predetermined distance from the vehicle, so as to allow the armor to come in contact with the cover of the RPG in order to neutralize it before the trigger hits the vehicle's body. The distance between the grid and the body of the vehicle is known as the standoff.
According to one example the slat armor includes a flexible mesh having rigid elements. The rigid elements are spaced from one another in such a way which does not allow an RPG warhead to hit the mesh without contacting at least one rigid element. Thus, the rigid element neutralizes the devastating effect of the warhead by deforming the conical liner and/or by short-circuiting the fuzing mechanism.
It is further known to suspend armor elements within a net. Under such an arrangement, the net is usually made of a crisscross grid of strings, and the armor elements are attached to the strings. It is also known to attach the armor elements to the net at junction points of such strings.
Some examples are known in which the armor elements are geometrically configured to work in conjunction with the net. For example, an armor element can have a first, solid body portion and a second body portion constituted by a plurality of petal members extending away from the solid body portion. Specifically, the armor element is mounted onto the net so that the strings of the net are received between the petal members, facilitating easier mounting of the armor elements onto the net. One example of such an armor element is disclosed in US 2011/0079135.